Wellington famous French Café and Patisserie La Cloche Central recently opened its doors on Featherston Street. S&T have given the premises a beautiful interior fit out with a sustainable-led, industrial and sleek aesthetic.

Replacing a pharmacy that had been onsite for 30 years, La Cloche Central (LCC) has been designed to be the industrial little brother to the sleek and sophisticated La Cloche Terrace (LCT) opening in mid-2017.

Taking cues from the masculine industrial bones of the existing space, S&T designed the café to celebrate these existing elements and maximise the use of natural light and open space. The ceiling was removed to expose the industrial mechanical ducts and services, while an old railway clock was rescued and installed to add to the industrial flavour of the cafe. To enrich and complement the industrial material palette; the concrete floors were polished, the Resene Alabaster white walls were paired with light E0 Eco-plywood and mild steel joinery units were coated with natural beeswax. As a finishing touch, the flower table centrepieces and the bold, bright and beautiful colours from the food display automatically attract the eye.

A long high table top leaner draws customers in through the front door while providing a casual barrier between those ordering to take away and those who are seated and dining. The café caters to all seating arrangements from café tables to the high tables, quiet nooks andwindow leaners. The food display chiller is at a calculated angle and distance from the front door to provide ease of access before ordering. The barista station is situated at a 45 ° angle to the door, this angle aligns with the front window which allows the barista to engage withthe passing foot traffic and to welcome new guests as they enter while catering to the needs of the existing customers. The calculated spatial layout of the cafe is not only ergonomic and comfortable; it enables the activity to be stream-lined making the café easy to manage and ensures customers get the best customer service.

Touted as Wellington’s most authentic French café and deli, La Cloche offers the finest selection of French cheeses, patés, meats, homemade patisseries and other fine French deli goods.

From the client François Febvre, “Over the last year, we’ve been working very closely with Shannon Lenihan and the S&T team in Wellington on the concept and development of our new café in Featherston Street.

We have found S&T to be extremely professional and given Shannon’s hospitality industry experience, they have challenged our own ideas about the design of our new site.

We are so pleased with their services that we have engaged them again in the design and development of our next store in a heritage building on the Terrace. We are looking forward to working with them again for this new venture.”